Thirty-five community centers that provide residents in Shanghai's Hongkou district access to family doctor services, employment advice, community activity, psychological counseling, and daycare for the elderly and children have been put into operation to improve their quality of life.

According to the district government, these community centers are a response to the central government's request to expand urban services to every corner of Hongkou, a 23-square-kilometer district that has 800,000 residents.

Residents can select from a comprehensive list of 280 services at each center, 33 of which even offer community canteens that provide elderly residents with meals. An average of 80,000 sets of meals have been sold daily.

"I get a lot of help with my meals and I also get to take showers here at the center. When I was seriously ill, the workers here sent me to the hospital and prevented the situation from worsening," said Wang Yongnian, an 87-year-old who lives alone.

The district's data shows that 5.5 million instances of service were provided at the 35 community centers in 2018. The figure rose to 7.2 million last year.

Since early this year, online platforms of these community centers have been set up for residents to learn about the latest news and information, make appointments and interact with one another.

These online platforms were pivotal during the peak of the pandemic in China between February and April when the offline centers were closed. Workers at the centers used these platforms to keep in touch with the residents in need of assistance and provide services such as the delivery of meals and medication.

In some subdistricts, including Jiangwan town, modules on preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus, how to interact with children, and cookie baking lessons, were provided on the online platform.